State bill for border security rises to $18 million a month

AUSTIN — Funding for Gov. Rick Perry's border-enforcement surge by state police and the National Guard will run out in October, despite earlier predictions that the initial allocation could last through the end of the year, state officials revealed Tuesday.

The escalating costs for Texas taxpayers were disclosed at a Senate Finance Committee hearing at which officials estimated a cost of at least $18 million a month to continue the ongoing criminal-enforcement campaign by the state Department of Public Safety with support from 1,000 National Guard troops.

Additional education costs of as much as $75 million also are estimated for the more than 5,300 unaccompanied children who have crossed into Texas in recent months from Mexico and will be attending classes in public schools.

During the hearing, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said that while the border “has to be secured,” the growing tab is a cause for concern. “Month by month, we're drawing resources from education and human services and other programs ... and we can't do that forever.”

“We can make it nearly to the end of October” with the current funding allocation, Major Gen. John F. Nichols, Texas' adjutant general, responded. “If there's no more money, then we'd have to bring our folks back.”

Additional medical and health care costs to the state — and perhaps reimbursements to local communities for addressing this summer's flood of undocumented immigrants — have not yet been calculated, but officials said they could be significant.

Last week, at a House hearing on border security costs, state officials estimated the border crisis could cost Texas taxpayers $75 million if it continues through the end of the year.

Members of the committee were unanimous that the federal government should reimburse Texas for most of the costs, which federal and state officials have said is unlikely. In addition to the new costs of the surge and related programs to address the immigrant flood, the Legislature last year allocated $343.3 million in border security funding for two years.

Nelson and state officials said there is no overall cost estimate for addressing the border crisis because it has no end date.

For their part, agencies involved in the current surge said they will continue operations until their funds run out. Nelson promised that state leaders will begin work to find more money.

Earlier this month, Perry used his authority as governor to order the Guard to support DPS operations along the border. He also tapped $38 million from a fund earmarked to buy new radio equipment for police agencies to pay for the deployment.

Nichols said Guard troops, when they arrive at the border in coming days, will only man observation stations along the border, to refer sightings of illegal border crossings to DPS to intercept people. The Guard will also fly helicopters and provide other logistical support to DPS officers who, unlike the Guard, can detain and arrest.

Mike Morrissey, Perry's deputy chief of staff and senior advisor, faced intense questions from several senators about the decision to send in the Guard, and to tap the radio fund with an emergency order without fully vetting the decision through the usual budget process.

Criticizing Perry's move to send in the Guard as “a political decision,” state Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said additional funding strictly for DPS enforcement along the border would have been better. “The issue is the cost involved. ... Sending the National Guard sends the wrong message. ... People think we're in a war zone.”

Republicans on the committee defended Perry's decision to deploy the Guard, saying the number of undocumented immigrants crossing into Texas overwhelmed federal agencies and DPS. “I appreciate our governor stepping forward,” said Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels. “I see this as a one-time capital expenditure for an influx of persons.”

Even so, most committee members questioned where the additional funding will come from to pay for continuing border operations, beyond just a few months.